Last week I had the great honor to be meeting Kenzy Cheeseman, one of the designers and founders of For Every Minute, a New Zealand based luxury sleep- and loungewear brand with an absolute unique concept. Since Kenzy brought some samples all the way from New Zealand to Berlin, I had the chance to review a selection of their range exclusively and I was nearly blinded by such explosion of incredible colors and the reflection of this graceful silk they are using. Their collaboration with famous German model and celebrity, Marie Nasemann for their lookbook is a perfect detail that will be advantageous when conquering the German market. Obviously delighted by the collection and the actual idea, I utilized the possibility and asked Kenzy some questions about the business, her work with businesspartner and co-founder Faye Lowe and their ambitions. A concept that seems perfect on this blog – not only in the literal sense of SilkSoFine.

Interview:

What makes For Every Minute special in contrast to other sleepwear/loungewear labels?

Kenzy: We created our label For Every Minute out of seeing a gap in the market for stylish, wearable and flattering sleepwear made from luxurious pure silks. In our opinion the market already offered plenty of pastels, lace, frills and come hither looks so we wanted to create the type of stylish designer sleepwear we actually wanted to wear ourselves.

What does elegance mean to you?

Kenzy: Elegance in design is simplicity, perfection and grace. When we create a new garment it doesn’t feel complete until the design is balanced, refined and enhances a woman’s figure rather than overpowering it. We want women to feel beautiful in themself and elegant wearing our garments.

How would you describe the ambition of For Every Minute?

Kenzy: For Every Minute aims to be a globally recognized brand that creates tailored luxury lounge & sleepwear that is coveted yet accessible. Every woman deserves to feel beautifully relaxed every minute of the day.

The emerald robe worn by Marie Nasemann

Have you had the idea of creating such label in your mind long before you started it or was it born from a more spontaneous idea?

Kenzy: Faye and I met twelve years ago while studying fashion at university and became close friends; we shared a love of design, art, vintage, classic films and a sharp eye for detail. We initially had the idea to create the perfect glamorous silk robe when we graduated but it wasn’t until a few years later after following our own fashion pathways that we decided to launch For Every Minute; the idea had become so strong in our minds that we just had to do it! Faye had also been travelling extensively throughout Europe and Australia seeing first-hand what the global market had to offer and what it was lacking so we knew there was a gap in the market for what we wanted to create. It was a very exciting time for us and the collection then grew to include complimenting pajamas, chemises, camisoles and nightshirts; all thoughtfully designed to be mixed, matched and layered to suit your individual style.

For Every Minute founders and designers Faye (left) and Kenzy

How would you describe the interaction of you and Faye?

Kenzy: We bring different yet complimenting skills to our business; Faye has an extremely clear vision of our For Every Minute customer and how to interact with our market. She keeps our brand identity on track and is incredibly detail focused. My background in pattern making, design and production sees me traveling to work directly with our manufacturing partners to ensure the highest quality garments. We both have strong retail backgrounds so we enjoy hosting events together and interacting directly with our customers, seeing them in our garments and getting their direct feedback on what they want helps us grow our business. I love working with Faye, we bounce off each other in a fun, creative and honest way.

In how far does timelessness play a role in the character of your designs?

Kenzy: Creating garments that are classic and timeless is very important to us. It’s the reason why we source the most luxurious silk and craft our garments to such a high standard, so that our customers can enjoy our product for many years. We are not a trend focused brand and do not see the need to reinvent our collection every season; instead we believe that for a sustainable future quality over quantity is the key.

What does high-quality mean to you?

Kenzy: A high quality garment should look just as beautiful on the inside as the outside. It should be thoughtfully designed made using the best quality materials and crafted with skill.

Champagne robe

How did you select the silk you are now working with?

Kenzy: When sourcing our silk it was important it could move and flow seductively over the body. We choose a 100% pure silk satin for its rich texture, luxurious drape, luster and softness against the skin. Silk is measured in momme weight, the higher the momme the higher the quality of silk. 14 momme is considered to be a luxury fabric, we use 19 momme silk because of its unparalleled quality, durability and ease of care. Our silk is also colourfast so it will keep its rich colour wash after wash.

Could you say something about the selection of colors? We can see a lot of strong colors and actually no pastels, which use to be very popular among sleepwear. How is that?

Kenzy: Faye and I are very inspired by colour, we wanted our range to look as sumptuous as it felt against the body and to celebrate a fresh new direction of colour combinations in sleepwear. We carefully dyed our striking jewel-like colours to complement a variety of skin tones and so they could be layered to suit an individual style.

How would you describe the ideal customer of a For Every Minute robe?

Kenzy: Our signature piece is our floor length silk robe and where it all began. It’s the epitome of modern glamour, cut to flatter and designed with the modern woman in mind; sleeve tabs that mean your sleeves don’t drag through your morning coffee, an internal tie for security and a diamond embroidered appliqué on the back that is not only beautiful, but functional as it means you won’t lose your tie. Mainly our customers are women treating themselves but also men buying for their fiancé, wife and even their mother: it’s the perfect gift for the woman who has everything and deserves to be spoilt! The Robe is also perfect for a Bride getting ready on the morning of her wedding, so she can feel glamorous & elegant from the moment she wakes up.

Champagne Robe

Rose robe with champagne chemise

What can we expect and the near future?

Kenzy:We have so many new styles that we are developing and exploring, this is the part of the process that we love. In the near future we plan to release our beautiful embroidered silk eyemasks, a black silk boudoir collection and a few new styles inspired by our customers that will be able to be mixed into the current silk collection.

Our new Silk Robe Bespoke Service will be launching online soon, customers will be able to place special customized orders, they will select their height (Petite, Regular, Tall) Size and Colour to create the perfect robe.

We are also giving New Zealand Merino Wool a new luxurious twist by designing a stylish lounge collection that will transition into daywear. We have just launched our Merino Lounge Robe for Winter in New Zealand and the response has been amazing. We are looking forward to releasing the rest of the collection shortly.

Are their any plans in particular for For Every Minute? And can we hope for a possibility to purchase ‘For Every Minute’ in Germany?

Kenzy:Absolutely! Faye and I created our brand with an international market in mind and would love to see it stocked throughout Europe one day soon, until then we do ship internationally via our website For Every Minute.

On my recent trip to Berlin I spent time exploring the amazing fashion boutiques and was pleased to see there wasn’t a product like ours on the market. There is definitely a gap in the market for stylish, elegant, pure silk sleepwear so I will be making contact with a few stores and introducing For Every Minute to the German market.

Thank you a million, dear Kenzy, for such a lovely meeting and for giving me such insights into the idea of the collection and your ambitions. My thanks also go to Faye for having this great interview on our blog. We wish you an ocean of inspiration and success for everything in the future.